Health better, but Deng still iffy

Forward likely out till Sunday

Nocioni, Hinrich should play

With a critical four-game trip starting Friday in Philadelphia, the Bulls received good news on the injury and illness front Thursday.

Andres Nocioni and Kirk Hinrich practiced and are expected to play despite still feeling the effects of the flu.

Luol Deng, who has missed two games with left Achilles' tendinitis, participated in about half the workout and said he would test his injury at Friday's morning shootaround.

That said, Deng acknowledged he still has soreness and that athletic trainer Fred Tedeschi is leaning toward holding him out until Sunday's matinee in Atlanta.

"Just pushing off a little bit bothered me," Deng said. "I played live, kind of got in a rhythm a little bit, forgot about it. It's when you stop for a little while that you feel it.

"We think this [injury] is coming from my back. It has been a tough year for injuries. I never like missing games. But you have to deal with it and try to use this time to come back better."

A sore back sidelined Deng, who played in all 82 games last season, for three games in November, all losses. They have split their last two without their second-leading scorer, including Tuesday's home loss to a Knicks team that entered 1-13 on the road.

Wednesday and Thursday marked the first back-to-back practice days Jim Boylan has had since taking over as interim coach. Boylan said he used them to tighten up the Bulls' weak-side defense and defensive shell and also prepare for a long, athletic 76ers team.

With Deng a game-day decision, Boylan is mulling increased minutes for 6-foot-7-inch Thabo Sefolosha. Andre Iguodala consistently beat Deng to the tune of 22 points in a Nov. 2 matchup, and Iguodala's quickness is a tough cover for Nocioni, even if the manic forward is at full health.

"He has length and athleticism and is a handful for us," Boylan said of Iguodala. "He always has given us a hard time."

Few could have predicted the dire straits the Bulls would be in come this four-game trip when the 76ers spoiled their home debut back on Nov. 2.

Boylan had watched the Bulls sleepwalk to other home-opening clunkers as an assistant and chalked that loss up to that dynamic.

Instead, the inconsistency remains, with Boylan getting asked to comment on guard Chris Duhon's assertion that the Bulls are playing like a below-average team.

"When you look at where we have been over the last couple of seasons and where we are right now, yes, we are not playing the way we should be," Boylan said. "We're not playing with the consistency that we have in the past. Our guys realize that.

"This is a trip where we need to establish ourselves and get back in the thick of the race."

Layup

ABC has dropped the Jan. 27 Bulls-Suns game from its national broadcast schedule and replaced it with the Celtics at the Orlando Magic.